The fight for Kobane is not limited to a local struggle against IS militants, but reverberates politically and strategically across the region.
Arab Awakening's columnists offer their weekly perspective on what is happening on the ground in the Middle East. Leading the week: A Syrian fearing exile and return.
The US and EU urgently need a better understanding of realities on the ground, the nature and diversity of attitudes to national self-determination in various parts of Kurdistan, and how they have been affected by the war against ISIS.
As the Iraqi crisis haunts the Kurds, double standards in the principle of self-determination come to the fore.
What will three forces contribute to the defeat of ISIS: Arab autocrats, moderate Islamist groups and secular democratic protest movements - the first initiators of the Arab Revolt? We can discount the first...
IS was created by lack of justice, dignity and governance. Instead of tackling these root issues, the US chose to target the outcomes through brutal terrorism to maintain its hegemonic power structure in the region.
The international community should support a secular, multi-religious and multi-ethnic Rojava with democratic ambitions, that is a threat for IS and equally for the conservative Islamic government in Turkey. This is democracy in action in the Middle East.
It now appears that Kobane will not fall. But Turkey’s apathy towards the plight of the city, coupled with their stealthy support for ISIS, is something the Kurds will never forget.
There is still time to quell IS in Syria but the world must be prepared to act immediately, before it is too late.
What roles have the emerging BRICS powers played throughout the crisis of the Islamic State? Reflecting on this can tell us about the internal and external nature of both the emerging powers and the more multipolar world that has been constantly heralded.
For the first time for decades, all sides to the conflict agree that terrorism has grown out of all proportions and poses a major threat to all. The current aerial bombardment by the US and its allies has won the explicit or implicit support of almost all stakeholders.
Islamic radicalism is the product of societal developments and it is not directly related to the religion of Islam. The lessons of Iraq are being actively ignored by the US and the west in general. The main tenets of American foreign policy, which have done well for extremism, are unchanged.
